


all I need, darling (is a life in your shape)

by juncakes



Category: Siren's Lament (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Miscommunication, Polyamory, Psychological Trauma Recovery, Touch-Starved Ian, eventually lol, more than anticipated, no beta we die like granny, other than that, the Poseidon's Curse fucked pple up, this is mostly fluff i swear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:48:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29110314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juncakes/pseuds/juncakes
Summary: “So what are you guys getting for dinner?” Shon asked. “She’s new around here, isn’t she?”Ian paused, slowly turning around to face the couple on the couch. “Well, about that…” he smiled sheepishly.Lyra lifted a brow. “Don’t tell me you were gonna google map a place on the way to your date.”Ian sighed dramatically, looking woefully at the ceiling. “You know me so well, Lyr. S’why it couldn’t work between us, you’d predict everything I’d do and then what would happen to my mysterious, exciting sex appeal?”“Assuming you ever had any,” she deadpanned, and Shon shook with silent laughter next to her as Ian pouted.Or, in which three people in love with each other try to navigate the aftermath of a curse, as well as deal with all the messy, complicated stuff that comes with having feelings for more than one person at the same time.Ian's a stubborn bean.Shon is trying his best.Lyra might run out of sticky notes.
Relationships: Lyra/Ian, Lyra/Ian/Shon, Lyra/Shon, Shon/Ian
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	all I need, darling (is a life in your shape)

It was quiet in the ocean. 

There was barely enough moonlight to illuminate the pale sand and the vast, black emptiness surrounding him on all sides. 

Ian shook his head, trying to make sense of which way was up and how to swim towards it, but—

Why wasn’t he moving? Ian looked down and quickly realized why.

Instead of iridescent cobalt scales, he was greeted with an expanse of rich caramel skin, covering him entirely from top to bottom. 

His legs kicked aimlessly and clumsily underwater. They felt strange, as they usually did, lately, lacking the strength and coordination he needed to properly swim in the deep ocean. 

He was sinking, Ian realized, vision darkening as he saw the moon become smaller and blurrier in the sky. Panicking, he opened his mouth to cry out and immediately felt the rush of cold water flood and clog his lungs, muffling his cries. Fear and frustration bubbled up in his chest, growing until they entirely encompassed his being with icy awareness. 

He was alone. 

He was lost. 

And he couldn’t breathe. 

~~~

Ian suddenly startled awake at the sound of his phone alarm on the table.

Groaning, he stretched an arm out to turn it off, nearly falling out of the couch in the process. After fumbling with the screen and buttons for another twenty seconds, he finally managed to silence the thing and sighed in relief. 

As he sat up, he heard a snort of laughter and soft giggles erupt next to him. Ian turned his head and groggily squinted at the two figures huddled on the other side of the couch. 

“You know,” he drawled, “I’m really glad y’all are enjoying the show from over there.” 

Lyra’s giggles turned into a full belly laugh, the kind that made Ian feel warm and soft, and he felt the fragments of his nightmare fade like footprints in the sand under a gentle tide. 

“Aw, but you were trying so hard,” she teased, snuggling further into Shon’s side. “In our defense, we thought you had it handled.” 

“Hardy, har, har.” Ian sighed again, rubbing his hand across his face. The muted sounds from the TV in front of them, low hum of the air conditioner and thumping of the working laundry machine distracted him, making his ears ring a little as he tried to adjust to the noise. 

“Hey, you okay?” Shon asked, brows drawing together in faint concern. “You know there’s some lunch leftovers in the fridge, if you’re hungry.”

“Oh, really?” Ian perked up. His appetite had been randomly coming and going for a while now; though that wasn’t anything unusual, given that most ex-sirens had to deal with problems like that for a while before completely assimilating to human life. River had been a big help in that department, explaining to them that things like eating, sleeping, or even talking would take time for ex-sirens to get used to doing again, especially those who had spent more time under the curse than others. 

Twenty years didn’t give Ian an easy time to get used to being human again, but he did like to soberly remind himself that he’d at least had Tua and Pele to interact with and make him feel less like a shell of a person. 

“Yeah,” Shon said. “Here, just hold on a sec,” he moved to get up, Lyra shifting a little to the side, disturbing their comfortable position on the couch. 

“W-wait!” Ian exclaimed, and they both paused to look back at him with quizzical expressions. He ducked his head, blushing a little under their attention. Which was perfectly normal, he reasoned, because his friends were very attractive, and very nice, and very…completely unavailable, which was also fine. People blushed all the time around their beautiful friends, right? He cleared his throat a little, willing a growing migraine to go away before quickly plastering on a smirk and raising his head to wink at Shon and Lyra.

“I should probably get ready for my date tonight, ya know?”

Lyra’s eyes widened. 

“Oh,” she said. “With Emila?”

“Yep!” Ian jumped up from the couch, pocketing his phone and making his way towards the door. He didn’t have the energy to try to look nice before leaving; he knew by now it’d be dumb idea to try look good when he felt this shitty, anyways. 

Shon hummed. 

“So what are you guys getting for dinner?” he asked. “She’s new around here, isn’t she?”

Ian paused, slowly turning around to face the couple on the couch. “Well, about that…” he smiled sheepishly. 

Lyra lifted a brow. “Don’t tell me you were gonna google map a place on the way to your date.”

Ian sighed dramatically, looking woefully at the ceiling. “You know me so well, Lyr. S’why it couldn’t work between us, you’d predict everything I’d do and then what would happen to my mysterious, exciting sex appeal?”

“Assuming you ever had any,” she deadpanned, and Shon shook with silent laughter next to her as Ian pouted in front of them. 

“Whatever, I’ll take her to that cafe I went with you guys last week, I guess. They had good sandwiches.” Ian turned and raised his hand in a half wave. “See ya guys later, don’t stay up late for me!”

“Don’t stay out too late!” Shon yelled back.

“Yeah, yeah, got it, Dad.”

Ian heard Shon’s gagging noises and Lyra’s loud laughter as he shut the apartment door, making him smile and shake his head. As he walked down the stairs through the flower shop, he slowly came to a stop at the entrance, setting his head against the front door with a soft thud. Was it possible to be tired of feeling tired? He had legs again, was currently in a relationship with his first ever crush, and hung out with some of the best people in the world almost every day. And he’d literally just taken a nap!

But he could feel the exhaustion creeping back into his body, heavy and persistent. 

He gripped the door handle hard and swung the door open. With any luck, he’d feel better after grabbing some food. 

~~~

Lyra looked out the window, sitting at a barstool and absently fiddling with rim of her coffee mug on the kitchen counter top. 

The town looked beautiful under the light of the setting sun, a rare sight to enjoy in what was typically grey, cloudy weather in this town. Lyra wondered if she’d always appreciated sights like these before, if she could somehow discover and pinpoint all the little things that had changed her after what she’d been through. 

She knew Shon wondered the same about himself, had talked about it with him in soft mornings when it was just the two of them on the warm bed and trying to ignore the ache that came from the missing space between them. 

“Do you think Ian’s been…” Lyra leaned forward on the counter, traced the patterns on the wooden surface. “…acting a little off, maybe? I don’t think he’s been getting that much sleep. And he’s been more distracted than usual, lately.” She looked up at Shon. “I think there might be something bothering him that he’s not telling us.”

Shon frowned, setting the dishes he’d been washing on the drying rack. “Yeah. I try not to bring it up when I’m with him because I can tell it stresses him out but…” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “He’s been like this ever since the whole showdown with—well, you know. I figured he’s just getting used to being fully human again? River said it’s common.”

“I know but, have you seen him?” she pressed. “He looks exhausted all the time, and today he barely even got ready for his date! You know how he is, he’d never leave the apartment without spending at least an hour in the bathroom.” 

“Maybe he’s finally realized he looks good in anything,” Shon mumbled. “What?” he asked when Lyra gave him a look. “It’s true.”

“I know that it’s true, that doesn’t make it any easier to hear!” she groaned. “Anyways, no, I don’t think he’s gotten an ego boost recently. If anything, he actually needs one. Which is kind of crazy, if you think about it? Like am I really saying that Ian out of all people needs an ego boost?”

“Hey.” Shon walked around the kitchen counter, circling his arms around his girlfriend from behind. He took her hands into his, linking their fingers together. “He’ll be alright, Lyr. I can talk to him about it when he comes back today or tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah,” she relented, after a moment. “Yeah, okay.” 

Lyra studied their hands on her lap. She began rubbing small circles on Shon’s hand with her thumbs. 

“Do you, um.” Lyra stopped, cleared her throat a little, tried again. “Do you… think he’s happy? With her?”

Shon tensed around her a little bit, before relaxing with a soft exhale atop her head. He pulled her closer, turning his head to tuck a soft kiss against her temple. “He seems like it, doesn’t he?” he said, and she could hear the sad, wistful smile in his voice. 

It had taken both of them a long time for them to acknowledge their feelings for Ian, and then even longer to trust telling each other about them. Lyra had been a nervous wreck about it at first, but surprisingly enough, like everything else about them, the revelation had come as an almost natural, mutual understanding between them. 

It had been a busy day at the shop, with more customers than usual since it was February and Valentine’s Day was just around the corner. There was an air of nervousness and excitement about the place that reminded Lyra why she loved her job so much. Ian had been helping out with the other siren volunteers with the bulk of the customer service (his ‘strongest suit’, or so he liked to remind everyone), and Shon had been managing the registry while she took stock of the remaining inventory. 

After hours of tirelessly counting and plucking and gathering, she decided to head inside the shop to ask Shon to switch duties with her for the rest of the day. Once she walked in, however, she quickly drew up short upon seeing Pele manning the register instead. She seemed busy handling customers, so Lyra decided not to bother her and set about looking for Shon herself.

She found him by the arrangement aisle, in the middle of assembling a standard bouquet. But his eyes weren’t focused on his task; he was staring at something past her shoulder, the look in his eyes so soft and fond it made her heart clench with a familiar shock of hurt until she turned to see what had him so captivated. 

Ian was leaning down with one knee on the floor, smiling his usual sparkling smile and holding out a flower—a lily, she realized— to a little girl who was shyly hiding behind her father’s leg. Lyra watched as the father placed an encouraging hand on the little girl’s back, gently urging her forward to take the flower from Ian’s hand. Ian laughed a little and said something that made the little girl’s eyes widen in wonder and look up at her dad, who smiled and said something back to Ian. 

Ian promptly got up and snatched several more lilies from the counter, fingers deftly working the stems around each other to make a little laurel of flowers. Grinning, he showed the girl the crown before setting it gently atop her head. 

She reached up to gingerly touch the soft petals, a small, but bright smile breaking out across her features as she did so. 

Her dad smiled and crouched down to style her hair a little, and when he took out his phone to snap a picture, Ian spoke up again, one hand on his chest and the other gesturing towards the man’s phone. 

Lyra couldn’t stop staring at Ian’s face as he took their picture, at how happy he looked and how infectious his smile was even among strangers. If Shon was like the gentle sun on a late afternoon on the beach, Ian was like the rushing, exhilarating tide that filled sunny beach days with teasing fun and warm laughter. She remembered seeing him so lonely and cold when she first met him, and could barely swallow past the lump in her throat when she saw how he’d changed so much. 

Seriously, how’d the guy even become a pro at taking pictures within only a couple months he’d spent being human anyways?

When she raised a hand to wipe at the moisture gathering in her eyes, she looked back at Shon to see his amber gaze already back on her, lips slightly parted in realization, looking like he felt and knew and understood everything she was feeling. 

They’d talked about it later quietly that night at her apartment. Lyra told Shon about her feelings for Ian from the moment they’d met, how they’d grown into something stronger the more she came to know him and trust him. She choked up a little when she talked about what it was like dealing with those feelings when Shon lost his memories, saying “I don’t want you to think that I didn’t love you enough, or--or that I was cheating on you-" 

Shon had immediately wrapped her up in his arms, hushing her and assuring her that he’d “never think that, Lyr, if anything, I’m glad he was there for you, wouldn’t trust another soul to do that for you” which just made her sob harder into his shirt, because it had been _hard_ , without Shon. She had missed him so much back then, and feeling the way she was feeling for Ian made her feel like she was betraying Shon’s sacrifice, his love, everything he’d done for her. Hearing him say it was okay lifted a weight she hadn’t even known she’d been carrying on her chest this whole time. 

Shon told her it’d been gradual for him, too. It was annoying at first, he’d admitted, seeing Ian and Lyra just connect so easily and seamlessly when he’d been basically a stranger at the time. But he’d just as quickly gotten used to him, what with his goofy, carefree attitude that was almost infuriatingly impossible to stay mad at, and he found himself not only not minding the chance that Lyra might end up with Ian instead, but also realizing he wanted to see the both of them be happy together. “It wasn’t that seeing you together was a sight for sore eyes, really,” he admitted, a small smile appearing on his face. “I guess I just felt more bitter about the fact that I wasn’t included in the picture.”

Afterwards, they hadn’t known whether to tell Ian, but the chance was taken from them anyways when he came up to them one day, beaming with Emila on his arm. Lyra’d been too shocked to react, until Shon quickly slid a hand into hers and squeezed, gave Ian his widest, most convincing fake smile and clapped his shoulder, congratulating the couple. Lyra’d had her fair share of dealing with shitty things in life, so she went through the motions in her head, quickly burying the crippling heartbreak, smiling tightly and echoing Shon, saying she was so happy and excited for them. 

But if it meant Ian would be okay, they’d figured it would be fine to let it be and shove their feelings into a corner and just be there for their friend any way they could. Lately though, it seemed like Ian was just kept getting worse and worse, the bright aura that he used to emanate effortlessly now slowly dimming, and it bothered Lyra that he was adamant about keeping whatever he was dealing with completely away from them. 

Should she just go up to him and straight up ask him about it? Or should she ask Shon to do it instead? Or maybe it was better with both of them? Over dinner? Or wait, dinner was too formal and kind of date-y, maybe lunch then? Wait, that probably wouldn’t work with their different work schedules. Breakfast, then? 

_Ha, yeah Lyr, because confronting our friend about his possible depression first thing in the morning would be a great start for that conversation, huh._

She wanted to scream. For Pete’s sake, they all lived in the same apartment! Could they just not communicate normally?

Lyra heard Shon chuckle. “Oh my god, please never get caffeine after 5PM again. I can practically hear your thoughts right now.”

Lyra snorted. “Yeah? What are they saying?”

“Hmm…something like ‘ _beep_ why’s Ian being such a little _beep beep_ right now, _beep_ , man, sometimes I just wanna _beep_ deck him in the _beep_ maybe that could make him tell me what the _beep_ is going—ouch, Lyr, stop pinching me—!“

Lyra rolled her eyes at Shon even as she fought back a smile. “So then don’t make inner me sound like she’s got a sailor’s mouth all of a sudden. In all the years you’ve known me, when have you ever heard me curse?” 

“I can think of a few times,” Shon replied. 

He shifted behind her, moving his hands up to her shoulders and turning her around gently so he could look into her eyes. Lyra blushed a little, looking away because damn, her boyfriend was pretty hot and she had to calm down before she did something dumb like jump him when he wasn’t even in the mood. 

But Shon smirked and leaned forward, thumb coming up to brush against her cheek, then her lip and…oh, ok. 

He was definitely in the mood.

“You know,” he murmured, “it might just be me, but…” he trailed his fingers down her neck, making her shiver a little, “I just thought of this great idea to take our mind off things for a bit, yeah?”

“Mhmm, very original,” Lyra teased, bringing her arms around his neck and leaning in close. “We should at least move to the bedroom, don’t you think?”

“Damn,” Shon chuckled, pulling back and raising a brow, “thinking that far ahead already?”

Lyra felt her face redden. “Hey, I’m not the one who started coming onto the other all of a sudden,” she pointed out. “Also…” she pulled him in again, pecking him lightly on his lips, then his cheek, to whisper in his ear, “I’m just being practical here, you know.” 

“Mm, nothing does it for me like when you get all _practical_ ,” Shon moaned, and Lyra laughed. 

Shon smiled and brought her lips back to his, kissing her slow and deep. Like this, wrapped up in each other, Lyra had to admit that she felt a million times better already. She sighed a little against Shon’s mouth, tilting her head to let him press kisses against her neck while she raked her fingers through his brown locks. He groaned and flexed his own fingers, which had at some point moved down to grip her thighs. She felt desire curl low and warm in her belly, and she moved to wrap her legs around Shon. 

Suddenly, she felt a low vibration run up her calf, a buzzing noise cutting through the intense atmosphere that made her stop and reluctantly pull away from Shon, slightly breathless. 

Cursing under his breath, Shon reached back and pulled his phone out of his back pocket. “If it’s my boss again, I swear, it’s my day off—“ he cut himself off right before answering, “Hello?”

Lyra watched as his expression shifted from annoyance to concern within a matter of seconds. “What? Where are you guys?”

“What is it?” Lyra whispered. Shon looked at her, but his eyes were slightly unfocused, clearly hanging on to every word coming out of the other end of the line. 

“Okay, stay there, we’ll be over in ten.” He ended the call, then rushed over to the couch to get both his and Lyra’s jacket. 

“Shon?” Lyra slipped her shoes back on. “What—“

“We need to go,” Shon muttered quickly, picking his keys from the counter and looking over at her, expression tense with worry. 

“That was Emila,” he said. “She says Ian collapsed on the way to the cafe.”

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to yell at me on my tumblr https://cloud45brb.tumblr.com/


End file.
